Lorraine Wood Flowers: Ohhhh that smell!

I was recently commissioned to photograph some behind the scenes shots at Lorraine Wood Flowers' Workshop.

It's one of those jobs where I punched the air once it was confirmed. I'd usually do that anyway about any shoot I'm excited about, however, there are two reasons I was even more excited about this. Firstly, Lisa from Palompo PR had her part to play in having this shoot done which would in turn help her to promote Lorraine's business. Plus she was there on the day and is awesome to work with. Secondly, I'd done a couple of shoots for Lorraine in the past, the second time was at her workshop which was brand spanking new then. So it was good to know what I was going into.

My favourite types of shoots are when I get the freedom to tell a story. In this case, it was all about capturing a variety of scenarios that set the scene for Lorraine Wood Flowers; images that would portray a behind the scenes look into what goes into creating the amazing floral displays that you can see on Lorraine's website; workshop images to help promote the fun that can be had by being able to create your own bouquet; and a glimpse of Lorraine in her stunning consultation room meaning you get a real flavour of the environment you'll meet Lorraine to discuss ideas and colour schemes.

In a nutshell, being able to provide imagery to help a small business make lots of noise about what they do is amazingly rewarding.

Ohhhhhh and that smell! Walking into Lorraine's workshop on a Thursday when she has a full stock of flowers ahead of a busy weekend of weddings = WOW! The smell just envelopes you into a place somewhere far from where you actually are. You have to experience it to believe it.

Find out more about Lorraine's forthcoming workshops here.

Palompo PR: The comfort zone

I've spoken to a lot of people in my time as a photographer and I've come to the conclusion that most people hate the idea of having their photo taken. Fair enough, I can completely understand that. But those who have made the brave jump, for whatever reason, have been pleasantly surprised by the experience. 

Take head shots for example. Most people know they need them for their professional online presence, such as their LinkedIn profile. They need a head shot image of themselves to replace that blurry one taken by their other half on a mobile phone. Enter the place that is so far from their comfort zone it fills them with fear.

I could quite easily turn up with my camera and take lots of photos, but you would likely still be filled with fear and be very nervous, it's natural to feel that way. So I look at the whole experience and look at the environment you're in.

Take Lisa from Palompo PR for example. She invited me to her home office as it's a place where she feels comfortable. That's a good start. When I arrived, we never even mentioned the photography, we went straight for coffee! Also a good start. We chatted about pretty much everything but the photography, for at least half an hour! We caught up on loads of stuff and talked about lots of mutually interesting things. So much so that we almost forgot why I was there.

Now let's just get one thing out of the way here, Lisa's home office is the most inspiring space I've probably set foot in. It's bright, professional, comfortable and I would absolutely love to work in that space every single day! I had massive office envy!

Anyway, on to the photography. Lisa needed to be seen in her working environment and she needed to appear approachable and professional. So we used a few areas of her office space both sitting and standing and a change of outfits. But I wanted something else. Lisa lives in the most amazing house with a huge Victorian front door and entrance hall. I'd spotted some fantastic natural light filling the space when I arrived and so that's where we headed. I simply opened the front door and had Lisa stand in that space, the resulting images were probably the best from the entire shoot, funny that.

So if you're still pondering on whether or not to go ahead with some photography, I (and probably Lisa too) can assure you that the whole experience needn't be a scary one. Try it and see! You can drop me a line here.